Drink after hazing, student Antonin (19) may have been fatal in Belgium | Abroad

“Antonin’s death was not the result of a fall, an external act, hypothermia or any of the acts performed during the baptism itself,” a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service said at a press conference in Namur. ‘Doop’ is the Flemish name for hazing.

The hazing of nearly three hundred new students was organized by the colleges in the province of Namur, in the barn of a farm in Sart-Custinne, a village in the municipality of Gedinne. They had to fulfill tasks, such as eating animal food or lying in a bath full of blood. The students also spent the night there. After the party, most stayed in a shed to sleep. Freshman Antonin Deneffe never woke up.

booze fest

No alcohol was consumed during the ceremony, the spokesperson said. “Many witnesses were questioned about this. But after the baptism ritual, the alcohol flowed freely.” For example, another young person was taken to hospital on Sunday, who had 2.9 per mille alcohol (about fourteen glasses) in his blood. Witnesses say that Antonin had also been drinking heavily, Nieuwsblad reports.

At the end of 2018, a 20-year-old student died during a thirty-hour hazing in Leuven after he had to consume a lot of alcohol, sit for hours in ice-cold water and drink liters of fish sauce. Last summer it was announced that eighteen members of the Flemish student club Reuzegom had to appear in court for this.

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